Georgia QB Jacob Eason Knows What He Needs To Work On

Georgia sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason met with the media on Monday to discuss his offseason progress. The 6’5″ gunslinger is coming off a freshman season in which he threw for 2,430 yards, 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

For a true freshman quarterback thrown into the heat of SEC competition, those statistics really are not bad number, but Eason, the former No. 1 overall recruit, will be the first to say that he was unpleased with his freshman year performance.

The Washington native signal caller came to UGA with high expectations, and after a mediocre 2016, Dawg Nation is looking for Eason to shine in 2017.

“Last year I was a younger guy, I was still trying to learn the offense on the fly, I was trying to keep my head above the water in that aspect of it,” Eason said after Monday’s preseason practice. “This year I have more comfort in our schemes and our playbooks. So I feel like I can line guys up, I can tell them what to do, I can help them out when they run a wrong route, and that kind of thing.”

Georgia offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jim Chaney is impressed with the progress that Eason has made this offseason.

“I’ll tell you what, there is not much he can’t do when it comes to throwing a football,” said Jim Chaney, Georgia’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “Every day he works more and more things with changing plays and letting him have more freedom. He is not Drew Brees, he’s not in his 16th or 18th year, or whatever year he’s in – he can’t call the whole ball game, but he’s learning more and he’s getting more power within the offense as we go. I’d say his limitations are how big a scope of offense you go right now while he is still a work in progress.”

Jacob Eason is aware of his 2016 struggles, but he knows what he needs to work on and is looking forward to putting his experience to use on the field this season.

“Having that year under my belt, already knowing where they’re going to go, seeing what the defense is going to give me,” Eason said. “Now I’ve got to figure out where they’re going to line up, now I’ve got to figure out the motions and shifts and that kind of stuff. That year definitely helped, and we’re still a work in progress. But I think we’re going to be good this year.”

“Just a little bit of accuracy, completion percentage, hitting my checks downs, all of the little things, really,” Eason said. “Not hitting the big (passes) or intermediate routes. Just more check downs completion percentage all of that stuff. We’ve been working on it. We’re still working on it. We’ll see how it goes this year.”